A Place Unknown
by keroberous
Summary: Sakura and Syaoran both have almost identical dreams asking for help. What could it mean? FINALLY! Chapter 5 is up! Please RR!
1. Chapter 1

****

A Place Unknown

Chapter 1

"Good morning Sakura," Kero said. "You're up early: on a _Saturday_."  
"Don't you start too," Sakura replied, "I'll get enough of it from Touya." She had just finished changing out of her pajamas. "Tomoyo and I are going on a picnic this morning."
    
    "Well maybe if you would get up on time once in a while no one would have a reason to say anything," Kero said.

"Oh be quiet," Sakura said while throwing her pillow at him.

"Hey, don't take it out on me," Kero said angrily, "I was just saying...What the...?"

"Kero, what is it? Hoe!" The cracks all around her bedroom door started to grow immensely bright.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was the work of a Clow Card," Kero said, confused.

"But I thought I already captured them all," Sakura said, also completely puzzled.

"That's what I'm worried about, Sakura," Kero told her. "You have."

They both stood there silently watching and waiting as the light grew brighter and brighter. All of a sudden the door flew open and the blinding light flooded into her room. Sakura was totally blinded for a few seconds. When she was able to see again, she was no longer in her room talking to Kero. As a matter of fact, Kero was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello!" she yelled. "Is anyone here? Kero, where are you? KERO!" But there was no answer.

__

Where can he be? she thought. _He couldn't have just disappeared._

That's when she saw it. A dark figure was making its way towards her. Finally it came into focus and she could tell who it was. Actually, what it was.

"You're the Dream Card!" Sakura said. The Dream just nodded. _But that's impossible_, she thought, _I've already got the Dream Card! And besides, mines a different colour._

She was right. This card was a deep strawberry red. "It's beautiful," Sakura said, in barely a whisper. The Dream again just nodded, as if to say thank you.

"I have been sent to Earth by my master to find help," the Dream said. "Our world is in terrible danger. But my master is not able to stop the danger. And if our world is destroyed, so will yours."

"I don't get," Sakura said. "What am I supposed to do. I didn't even know other worlds existed. How can I help?"

The Dream continued as if Sakura hadn't said anything. "A message has been sent to Li Syaoran to ask for his assistance. Please help us."

"Sakura!" Someone was shouting her name but it seemed so far away. She tried to see where it was coming from, but it seemed to come from everywhere at once. Then she saw that everything around her was starting to fade, including the Dream.

"Sakura!" The voice was getting louder. But she wasn't paying attention to that any more. The Dream was still saying something. "An escort will be sent to bring you in two days from now. Be prepared."

By then the Dream's voice had almost faded away completely and it was hard for Sakura to hear it.

"What! What's coming in two days? Come back!"

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"SAKURA!"

"Uhhh..." Sakura groaned. _Where am I?_

"Hello. Earth to Sakura."

"What?" she said. That's when she opened her eyes to see a small, flying, talking stuffed animal shoved right in her face. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

"Sakura, calm down," Kero said. "It's only me. Kero, remember?"

"Oh, jeez Kero. I told you not to do that," replied Sakura grumpily. She hated it when Kero scared her like that.

"But you're going to be late for school!" Kero said.

"What!" she said. "Oh no!" She got ready for school as fast as she could and in the process, Kero got buried in Sakura's pajamas. "Sorry, Kero!" she yelled as she left the house.

"Yeah right she's sorry," Kero grumbled. "She probably did it to get back at me for waking her up."

Meanwhile, Sakura was speeding down the sidewalk trying to make it to school on time. When she was about half a block away she heard the bell ring. "Oh man," she mumbled and started to go faster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How come you were so late this morning, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked at recess.

"I slept in," she replied. Sakura led her best friend over to a tall tree near the edge of the playground where they both sat down. "Wake me when the bell rings," she said sleepily, closing her eyes.

"Sakura!" Syaoran was waving and running in their direction. "Sakura, are you okay?" he asked. "You looked like you were about to pass out in class."

"That's when it hit her. She could remember the Dream's words; _A message has been sent to Li Syaoran to ask for assistance..._ She decided that she really needed to talk to Syaoran.

"Syaoran, could I talk to you?" Sakura looked over at Tomoyo. "Uh...alone."

"It's okay. I was just leaving," Tomoyo said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Tomoyo, it's not...oh never mind," Sakura said as Tomoyo walked away.

"Well, what did you want to talk to me about?" Syaoran asked. Sakura was thinking that this might not have been a good idea after all. "Well," he said.

"Um..." she didn't know how to put it. "Did anything - weird happen to you last night?"

"Weird? Like what?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know," she said, trying to sound as casual as possible, "maybe a weird dream or something like that."

"A dream," Syaoran said, a bit shocked. "How did you know about that? I haven't told anyone."

"That's because I had one too," Sakura said.

"But that doesn't explain why you knew I had one too," Syaoran said.

"The Dream told me you would," Sakura said.

"Your dream talked to you?" he asked.

"No, it wasn't my Dream," she said.

"What?" Syaoran said, confused. "How can you have dreamt someone else's dream?"

"No the Dream Card, silly," Sakura said. "It was the Dream Card that told me."

"Oh. Well how could you tell it wasn't your Dream?" he asked her.

"My Dream is a pale blue, but the one in my dream was a deep red," Sakura answered him. "Who was in your dream, Syaoran?"

"Now that you mention it, I think it was the Sleep, but it was also a different colour," he said.

"I guess that makes sense." Both the Dream and Sleep appeared to us in our dreams," Sakura said.

"I think you're missing the bigger question, Sakura," Syaoran said. "What does all this mean?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura said. "The Dream said something would happen in two days, but Kero woke me up before it could tell me what."

Just then the bell that signaled the end of recess rang. "We'll have to talk more about this later," Syaoran said.

"Do you want to go for a walk in the park after school to talk?" Sakura asked him.

"Wha...um," Syaoran blushed. "Yeah...ok."

"Great!" Sakura said as she ran back towards the school. _What the heck did I just do! I can't be with him alone. Not yet!_ she thought. _Ok, Sakura. Get a grip. It's not a date; you're just going to talk. How do I get myself into these things?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So what's going on between you guys?" Tomoyo asked them after school. Sakura had asked her friend to join them because she didn't feel comfortable being around Syaoran alone right now. Considering that every time he said something nice to her she turned redder than a tomato.

"Well, something definitely strange is going on here," Syaoran answered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tomoyo asked becoming slightly confused.

"Syaoran and I had almost the exact same dream last night," Sakura told her. "The dreams were a bit different, but they both had a Clow Card asking us for help in another world."

Tomoyo looked dumbstruck. "You're right that is strange," she said quietly, not knowing what else to say.

"And apparently, something's supposed to happen tomorrow," Syaoran said to no one in particular. "But we're not quite sure what."

"I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open," Sakura said.

"How about we meet here again tomorrow?" Syaoran suggested. 

"Tomorrow's Saturday, so we'll have plenty of time to work together."

"Yeah. Ok," Sakura said.

"Good. It's settled then," Tomoyo beamed at the two of them. Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other and blushed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three friends were walking through the park the following day, keeping their eyes open. It was a beautiful day and Tomoyo, being ever prepared, as always, had packed them a delicious picnic lunch.

The morning had been uneventful, unless, of course, you count the time Sakura and Syaoran both turned redder than ever when their hands touched while reaching for the last sandwich.

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that something worthy of note occurred. 

They were still walking quietly through the park. Each one of them was too tense to say anything.

Then out of the corner of her eye, Sakura caught a flash of pink in the trees. 

"Hoe! What was that?"

"What was what?" Syaoran asked her, looking around him for whatever had startled Sakura.

"I saw something in the trees," she said, trying to find whatever it was.

"Ahh!" Tomoyo yelled. There it goes!" The pink blur was speeding away into the woods.

"Fly!" Sakura yelled and she soared up into the air, high above the trees. Because the blur was a hot pink, Sakura spotted it easily in the dense forest.  
Syaoran, however, was not having as much luck as Sakura when it came to keeping up.

__

I have to help him, Sakura thought._ But he's too heavy for me to carry. If only he were a bit smaller. I know!_ Sakura had just thought of a plan. "Little!" she yelled. "Release and dispel!"

Instantly Syaoran began to shrink until Sakura was unable to see him. She swooped down to where he had been and scooped up the miniature Syaoran and placed him in her pocket.

Syaoran popped his head out of Sakura's coat pocket. "What are you doing, Sakura?" his tiny voice squeaked.

"Taking you with me," she replied. "Now hold on tight!" She sped to catch up with the speeding blur.

They were no longer flying over the tree tops, but were racing along an empty street. "Thank God it's deserted," Sakura said to herself, although the tiny Syaoran in her pocket probably heard.

She caught a glimpse of Tomoyo running after them, going as fast as she could while looking through her camera.

As Sakura finally caught up to the blur, it began to take shape. "The Dash Card!" she yelled. _I can't believe I didn't think of that before_, she thought.

"Hey, not so loud," Syaoran yelled. "These tiny ears are very sound sensitive."

What the two of them didn't notice, though, was that the buildings around them had disappeared.

Sakura had suddenly become very drowsy. Finally, she was unable to keep her eyes open. Without knowing it, Sakura had fallen asleep. Both her and the tiny Syaoran, who had also fallen asleep, began to plummet to the hard ground below.

**__**

To Be Continued...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I'm finally done chapter 1!! It took me forever but now it's out of the way. Don't worry, chapter 2 won't take that long. I'm almost done.  
Don't forget to e-mail me to let me know what you think.  
Thanks.   
– Keroberous 

**__**

September 3, 2001


	2. Chapter 2

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A Place Unknown

Chapter 2  


Sakura's eyelids fluttered open. She was staring at the roof of a small room. _Where am I?_ she wondered. _This isn't my room._

Suddenly the door opened. The bright light hurt Sakura's tired eyes. All she could see was the silhouette of the person who opened the door. the person walked to where Sakura was lying. They took out a damp cloth and placed it on Sakura's forehead.

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but the person, who Sakura could now tell was a young girl about her own age told her to stay still.

"You took a pretty nasty fall," she said. "You were a lot worse off than your boyfriend. He's been awake for a while now."

When the girl mentioned boyfriend, Sakura was a bit confused. "What are you talking about? Oh, you mean Syaoran?" She suddenly turned a bright red. "He's not my boyfriend. We're just friends."

"Sure, whatever," she said doubtfully. "He's been trying to come in and see how you were doing, but I had to stop him because I took your clothes to get them washed and you're not wearing anything. Ever since he's been pacing just outside your door."

"He's been worried about me?" Sakura asked.

"Yup. He hasn't talked about anything else," the girl said. "Here. Get dressed and you can go see him." Then she left.

"But I still don't know where am I and who that was," Sakura wondered out loud.

When Sakura had gotten dressed, she left her room. Syaoran was sitting at the table in the middle of the room.

"Sakura!" he yelled and ran towards her. "Are you okay? I've been so worried. You've been unconscious for 4 hours now."

__

Wow! He does care about me, Sakura thought. "Syaoran, calm down. I'm okay, really."

Syaoran blushed. "Oh, okay. Sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

"Why don't I get you guys something to eat?" the girl broke in, trying to end the awkward moment. "I'll make you something nice."

"Okay, thanks," Sakura said. "Who are you anyway? You never told me your name."

"Oh, sorry. My name is Misumi," the girl replied.

"Where are we, though?" Sakura asked.

"You're in my house," she replied.

"Yeah, but where is that?" Syaoran said.

"We're just outside of Omaska," Misumi said.

"Omaska? Never heard of it. How did we get here, though? The last thing I remember we were in Tomoeda. How did we go this far?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"You've never heard of Omaska? Well, I've never heard of Tomoeda. Wait a minute! That must mean...You came! You came! I can't believe you actually came!" Misumi started screaming and dancing around the two of them.

Syaoran and Sakura both watched her, with confused looks on their faces. "Can you please tell us what's going on here?" Syaoran asked.

Misumi finally settled down. "The only explanation for you not knowing where Omaska is, is that you possess the ancient Spirit," Misumi said to Sakura.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked her.

"Ok. Listen up," Misumi said. "I'll tell you the legend. Long ago, only Earth existed. Clow Reed had just created his magical cards. He soon got word, though, that his evil twin, Clow Rood, was trying to take over the world. He took his cards and tried to stop his brother, but he couldn't. Clow Rood defeated his brother and stole the Clow Cards. He decided, though, instead of taking over Earth, he could just create another world for him to rule over. And so Thera was born. After many years and many attempts to defeat him, a young girl warrior took up the challenge. She was an orphan because Clow Rood had murdered her family. One night, she sneaked into Clow Rood's home and stole the Clow Cards. Unfortunately, she didn't get out before she was discovered. But she managed to use the cards against Clow Rood to defeat him. He wasn't dead but he was close to it. Unfortunately the girl warrior used all of her energy and her Spirit went back to Earth. She took the Clow Cards with her, but left a copy set here so we could defend ourselves if Clow Rood came back. And legend has it that the girl's Spirit returned the cards to Clow Reed and ever since she has been waiting for a worthy soul to rest in. And Clow Reed vowed that when she found that special soul his descendant would be her protector."

"So you're saying that this girl's Spirit is inside of Sakura?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes. But don't look so surprised...Protector." Misumi said.

"Protector?" Sakura and Syaoran asked. They both looked at each other and blushed.

"You must be a descendant of Clow Reed otherwise you wouldn't be here," Misumi said. "So that makes you Sakura's Protector."

"Did you say that Thera is identical to Earth?" Sakura asked Misumi.

"Yes and there is a person in Thera for every person on Earth. Kinda like a twin," Misumi said. "I'm Sakura's Theran Twin, that's why I have possession of the Clow Card copies." She took out a card identical to a Clow Card, but it was navy blue.

"So the cards we saw in our dreams belonged to you?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, they did," Misumi answered.

"But if you have the cards too, why do you need us?" Sakura asked.

"Well, because my cards are merely copies of the originals, they are only half as strong," Misumi answered.

"What's the big problem here anyhow?" Syaoran asked.

"Why don't you go see for yourselves," Misumi said. That's when they all heard a loud shriek from outside. Sakura led the way outside. When she got there everything was dark because a huge bird was blocking out the sun.

"What is that?" Sakura yelled over the noise of the wind the bird's wings created.

"That," Misumi said, "is part of Clow Rood's demon army."

"But I thought you said the girl warrior defeated Clow Rood," Syaoran said.

"She defeated him," Misumi said, "but not for good. That's why she left the card copies behind so we could have something to defend ourselves with. I don't think she knew how strong he'd be when he came back though. He knows now that just because he created our world doesn't mean he can control it, so he's trying to destroy it."

That's when they noticed that the bird had lifted its head and was sniffing the air as if it smelt food nearby.

"Oh no," Misumi said. "It must sense the ancient Spirit inside Sakura. Now's your chance to show what you can do."

"Ok," Sakura said. "This bird doesn't look too tough. Let's see just how evil it is." She was trying to sound as confident as possible, so Misumi didn't see that she was scared out of her mind.

That's when the bird flew right over head and shot a stream of fire at them from its mouth.

"Does that answer your question?" Syaoran asked Sakura.

Sakura had stopped trying to pretend she wasn't scared. "What am I supposed to do, Syaoran?" She hadn't fought another living creature before and wasn't sure she could do it.

"Use the Clow Cards!" he yelled. By that time he was ready to fight the bird. "Element! Lightning!" A bolt of lightning struck the bird, but it was only momentarily stunned. "Hurry, Sakura! My magic hardly affects it, and I can only do this for so long."

"Ok. I'll try," Sakura said. "I guess it's not too much different from the Fly Card. Speaking of which... Fly Card! Release and dispel!" Sakura mounted her staff and soared into the air. She flew over the bird and jumped on its back. She tumbled once but grabbed a hold on the bird's feathers.

"Be careful, Sakura!" Syaoran yelled to her. He and Misumi both watched nervously from the ground far below.

__

I'll be ok, Sakura thought, fighting to keep a hold on the feathers. _Time to get this over with._ "Release and dispel! Windy!"

The Windy Card formed a chain and tied up the wings of the giant bird. It was unable to stay in the air any longer. Sakura jumped off and flew to the ground.

"Sakura!" Misumi yelled to her and pointed at the giant bird. "The bird is too big and the city's too close. It's going to crash into Omaska!"

__

Oh no! Sakura thought. _I've got to do something, but what? I know!_ "Float Card! Release and dispel!"

All of a sudden the bird stopped falling. It moved about five miles away from Omaska and then it fell the rest of the way to the ground. "Now what, Misumi?" Sakura asked. "I can't seal it. It's not a card."

"All I know," Misumi said, "is that every member of Clow Rood's army has some sort of mark that is their weak spot. You just have to find it."

"A mark, eh?" Sakura asked. "I think I saw something when I was riding on that bird. I'm not sure though. Come on, Syaoran. Let's go check."

They both mounted Sakura's staff and flew over to where the bird now lay. "There!" Sakura said and pointed to a small red mark on the bird's back. "Hey! that looks like the symbol that represents the Clow Cards," she said.

"That must be the mark that Misumi was talking about," Syaoran said. "Let's do it."

Sakura steered closer to the bird while Syaoran took out his sword. "Element! Lightning!" he yelled. The bolt of lightning struck the bird on the mark. Instantly, the bird dissolved in a cloud of thin fog. The fog gathered itself and flew towards Misumi's house and in through one of her windows.

"Alright guys! You did it!" Misumi yelled excitedly. "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. You're better than I thought. I admit I had my doubts at first, but now I can tell that you must have the Spirit. You guys are a great team."

Both Syaoran and Sakura blushed fiercely at the last part. "Thanks Misumi," Sakura said. "By the way, why did that fog go into your house?"

"Oh. Come in and I'll show you," Misumi answered. They followed her into her house. Sitting on the table in the kitchen was a small gem that was glowing a bright pink.

"Ohhhh!" Sakura exclaimed when she saw it. "Pretty!"

Syaoran then muttered something that sounded distinctly like "Girls."

"What's it for?" Sakura asked.

"This gem stores the demon's spirit once it has been destroyed," Misumi answered. "The spirit was that fog that you saw," she added when she saw the confused looks on their faces. "You'll have to take it with you when you go on your journey. Don't worry, it stops glowing a few minutes after the spirit is absorbed. Once it absorbs enough of the demon spirits, this gem will be able to transport you back home. Until then there is no other way back."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Sakura asked. "You're coming with us aren't you?"

"Unfortunately, I can't. I have to stay," Misumi said. "I'd love to come and see you fight again."

"Are you sure you can't come along?" Sakura asked, hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry. My place is here. I'm sure you guys will be just fine on your own," Misumi said. "It's getting late though. We should probably get to bed. You'll want to get up early so you can leave right away."

While they were talking they moved into the bedrooms' hallway. "You guys can sleep in here," Misumi said, motioning towards the room Sakura had been in earlier.

"Uh, Misumi," Syaoran said. "There's only one bed in there."

"Huh? What's the matter?" Misumi replied.

"Well, it's not that I don't like Sakura or anything," Syaoran said, blushing, "but she's a girl and I'm a...well, you know."

"Oh, I get it," Misumi said. "Don't worry. That's my fault. I forgot. You can sleep in my room and I'll sleep on the couch. It's no problem. Good night, Syaoran."

"Good night, Misumi," he said.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


"Come on, Sleepyheads!" Misumi said knocking on Sakura's and Syaoran's bedroom doors. "Time to get up. You'll have to leave in a couple hours."

"Uhhhhhhh. I'm up. I'm up," Sakura said, groaning into her pillow. She hadn't slept that well during the night. 

"Sakura! Hurry up," Misumi yelled from the kitchen.

Sakura dressed quickly in the new clothes that Misumi had laid out for her and made her way into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Syaoran," Sakura said. He too had new clothes given to him by Misumi.

"Good morning, Sakura," he replied.

"You guys look great," Misumi said. "You'll have no problem blending in now."

"Ok, so where are we supposed to go anyway?" Syaoran asked, once he had finished

eating

"Well, Clow Rood's lair is in the western-most part of Thera. So that's where you'll want to go," Misumi answered.

"How long do you think it'll take us to get there?" Sakura wondered.

"Considering Omaska is about as far east as you can go in Thera, it'll take you no less than a few months," Misumi answered casually.

"A few months?" Sakura said.

"Maybe more," Misumi said. "It depends on how much trouble you run into on the way. Don't worry though. I'm sure you two will be fine as long as you stick together."

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


About an hour later, Misumi stood in her doorway, waving goodbye to her new friends. "I really hope they'll be ok," she said to herself.

When Sakura and Syaoran reached the other side of Omaska, they stopped and turned to look back at Misumi's house. By then she had gone back inside.

"Do you think we'll see Misumi again, Syaoran?" Sakura asked quietly.

"I certainly hope so Sakura."

**__**

To Be Continued...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Whew! Finally finished. I know the ending   
kinda sucks, but by that time I was running out  
of ideas. Any ways, Chapter 3 will probably take  
more time than Chapter 2, so please be patient.  
In the mean time, e-mail me to let me know  
what you think so far.  
– Keroberous

  
**_October 7, 2001_**


	3. Chapter 3

****

A Place Unknown

Chapter 3

It had been a long and tiring walk from Omaska. Sakura and Syaoran had been walking for a few hours now, stopping only when necessary. They had pretty much walked in silence the entire way except for the occasional snatches of conversation.

About six hours had passed since they left Misumi's house. They were both getting extremely hungry, as they hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"Syaoran, I'm getting hungry and we have to eat or we won't be able to continue," Sakura said.

"I know," Syaoran replied, "but there isn't anything around to eat. And even if there was, we don't know what's good and what's bad."

Sakura had sat down against a large tree. She was very tired from walking all day. Syaoran was leaning on his sword deep in thought.

They remained silent for several minutes. Just as Sakura's eyelids started to droop, they heard a large cheer from behind the huge tree Sakura was sitting beside.

Sakura's and Syaoran's heads both shot up. They looked nervously at each other. An unspoken decision to check it out was made. They moved slowly, so as not to startle whoever was on the other side.

When they saw what was there they froze. It was an old medieval style village. It wasn't really big, but it wasn't small either.

Right away, they could see the reason for the cheers. People were milling through the streets. Coloured pennants were hanging everywhere, flapping in a gentle breeze. There were way too many people to fit in the amount of houses that were there, so Syaoran assumed that many of the people were just visiting.

"Wow, it must be some sort of festival," Sakura said. "We might as well have some fun while we're here. Come on!"

Sakura grabbed Syaoran's hand and pulled him along behind her as she mad her way down the hill towards the village.

As they reached the entrance to the village, they were greeted by an old man in a colourful costume.

"Welcome, good sir and lady," he said. "Have thou come to join in the festivities?"

"Uh..."

"Yeah!" Sakura said.

"What's happening here?" Syaoran asked the man.

The old man looked at the pair of them with a surprised look on his face. "Does good sir and lady really not know of the Festival of Faeries?" he said.

"The Festival of Faeries?" Sakura repeated.

"One must come from very reserved place not to know of it," the man said.

"Yeah, well..." Syaoran trailed off because he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell him that they were from Earth.

"Never mind," the man said. "Come in, come in." The man led Sakura and Syaoran into the village, pointing out some of the more interesting attractions. 

They hardly noticed them, however, because they were nervous being in such a crowded place with some guy they hardly knew and who talked very weird.

All of a sudden they were grabbed and pulled away from the old man.

"What's the big idea?" Syaoran asked their kidnapper.

Now that they had stopped, they could tell that it was a girl about their own age.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that you looked really uncomfortable with Old Zack over there, so I thought I would spare you a bit of agony."

"Thanks," Syaoran said to her.

"Yeah. That guy was really weird. Does he always talk like that?" Sakura asked.

"No," she replied. "Only during the festival. It must be the atmosphere. I guess he just can't resist."

"You've been really nice to us," Sakura said, "What's your name?"

"My name's Tiana. What's yours?"

"I'm Sakura," she replied. "And this is my friend, Syaoran."

Tiana's eyebrows rose slightly when Sakura introduced Syaoran as just a friend, but she didn't say anything. "Where are you two staying tonight?"

"We're not sure," Syaoran said. "We just got into town and we weren't really planning on staying."

"What? You're not staying?" Tiana asked. "You'll miss all the fun. Come on, stay a while. You can stay at my house. My parents won't mind."

"I don't know," Syaoran said slowly. Sakura gave him a pleading look. He sighed to himself. "Sure, why not?"

"Great!" Tiana said. "Come on, I'll show you my house." Then she started to head off.

Sakura turned to Syaoran and smiled. "Thanks," she said.

Syaoran blushed deeply as Sakura rushed to catch up to their new friend.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the three of them reached Tiana's house, Sakura and Syaoran collapsed on the couch, exhausted.

"It's getting late," Tiana said. "I'll find you something to eat and then you can get some rest. I'll show you the Festival tomorrow."

"Thanks," Sakura said sleepily.

Tiana went into the kitchen. When she came back, Sakura and Syaoran had fallen asleep. Sakura's head was resting in Syaoran's lap.

"I'll just leave this here," Tiana said to herself. She put the food on the table, turned out the lights, and left them to sleep.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura, Syaoran, and Tiana were sitting around a small table at an outdoor cafe, eating a small lunch after a busy morning. Tiana had led the pair through the festival, showing the sites and browsing the stalls.

Both Sakura and Syaoran were leaden with souvenirs. Despite many refusals, Tiana had insisted on buying them each something. It was also Tiana who persuaded them to let her buy lunch.

"Tiana? Did that man we met yesterday really say that this was the Festival of Faeries?" Sakura asked about halfway through their lunch.

"Yup. You heard right," Tiana replied.

"How did it get its name," Syaoran asked, becoming more and more interested.

"Well," Tiana said, "when Clow Rood was finally defeated, the borders of Thera were opened and others were able to come in. This included beings with magical powers. A race of faeries had come here to make a new home. At this time, much of Thera was experiencing a horrible drought. However the people who lived in this area of Thera welcomed the faeries and invited them to stay as long as they like. In return for the Theran's hospitality, the faeries used their powers to end the drought. And to this day, the soil around here is the best in all of Thera."

"Wow," Sakura said, "what a nice story."

"It's because of this that we celebrate every year," Tiana said. "Anyway, I've got some errands to run. You guys can explore on your own for the afternoon. We can meet back at my house for supper."

"Ok, see you later," Sakura said as Tiana set off. "Come on, Syaoran. Let's go."

The two of them walked through the busy streets, browsing the stalls.  
Syaoran stopped to look at some stuff at one of the stalls. Sakura told him she'd just be up ahead.

"Come here, my child." Sakura snapped to attention when she heard the voice. She looked around to see where it came from and spotted a small woman, sitting at a booth, whom she didn't notice before. Apparently no one else noticed her either because everyone walked by without glancing at her.

"Come here," the woman repeated without looking up. Nervously Sakura made her way through the crowd towards the woman. When Sakura reached the woman, she realized she was gazing deeply into a crystal ball that was glowing fiercely.

"I know who you really are, my child," the woman breathed.

"Hoe?" Sakura jumped back in surprise. "Wha...What do you mean?"

"Do not lie to me, dear. You miss your friends and family don't you?" the woman said. "Tomoyo, Kero, and even Touya."

"Uh... I have to go now," Sakura said. She turned and ran to find Syaoran.

"You'll be back," the woman whispered, but Sakura was too far to hear.

"Hey, Sakura!" Syaoran said, running up to her. "There you are. It's getting late. We should get back to Tiana's house."

"Ok," she said. _How did that woman know about everyone back home? _Sakura wondered. _It was pretty freaky._

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hi, Sakura!" Tomoyo said, as she walked into the classroom.

Sakura smiled at her best friend. "Good morning, Tomoyo."

"Settle down class," Mr. Tereda said. He started to take attendance.

Sakura was thinking to herself how nice it was to finally be back home. Thera was nice, but it didn't compare to Tomoeda.

When Mr. Tereda got to Syaoran's name there was no answer. In surprise, Sakura turned and looked at Syaoran's empty seat. _He's probably just late_, Sakura said to herself. _He'll show up soon._

But the day wore on and still, Syaoran had shown up.

When Sakura passed by his empty desk at the end of the day, she started to really worry. _Where is he?_

Sakura said goodbye to Tomoyo and took a detour home past Syaoran's house.

She knocked on the door and when Wei answered was disappointed to find out he wasn't here either.

"Do you know where he is?" Sakura asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. He didn't return home after school yesterday," Wei answered.

"What?" Sakura said. "Oh, no!" She turned and ran home. When she got there she only said a brief "Hi!" before she bolted upstairs to her bedroom.  
"Kero!" she said. "Syaoran's gone missing!"

"Huh?" he said, through a mouthful of food. "Who cares about that kid anyway. He was annoying and always got in the way, if you ask me."

"_I_ care about him, Kero," Sakura accidentally snapped at him.

That was when Sakura noticed a glow coming from her desk drawer. She went over and opened it. She saw the stone that was given to her by Misumi. As she picked it up, she suddenly realized where Syaoran was.

"Oh, no!" she said. "He must still be in Thera. And without this stone, he's trapped there! Oh, Syaoran. I'm sorry."

Sakura lay down on her bed and cried into her pillow.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura woke with a start. _It was only a dream_, she thought. _But it was so real._

She could feel the tears on her face and reached up to wipe them away. She didn't think she'd be able to get back to sleep, so she decided to go and sit in the living room until someone else got up.

As she walked down the hallway, Sakura noticed that Syaoran's bedroom door stood slightly ajar. She paused a minute and listened. The sound of his soft breathing seemed to comfort her.

She went to sit down on the couch. Contrary to what Sakura had thought, she had barely sat down before she fell asleep.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Sakura woke to the sound of footsteps in the hallway. She looked and discovered it was Tiana.

"God morning, Tiana," Sakura said.

"Oh, good morning, Sakura," Tiana replied. "What are you doing out here?"

"Um... I couldn't sleep," Sakura said.

"How about some breakfast?" Tiana asked.

"Sure. That'd be great," Sakura said.

While Tiana was making breakfast, Syaoran came out from his bedroom.

"Good morning, Syaoran," Sakura said cheerfully.

"Morning, Sakura," Syaoran replied.

"Come and get it," Tiana called to them from the kitchen.

After breakfast Tiana told them that she would be busy again this morning and she would meet up with them later. Syaoran and Sakura went off into the crowds.

After a while they neared the place where Sakura had met the mysterious woman (neither of them knew this however).

Just then Sakura stopped in her tracks. "Sakura, are you all right?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura's eyes went blank and she levitated about an inch off the ground. She started to float off through the crowds with no problem, as if nobody noticed her. Syaoran ran to catch up to her. He, however, had a much more difficult time than Sakura of getting through the crowds.

After a few minutes, Sakura stopped moving and moved slowly back down to the ground. Once Syaoran had reached her, he realized that Sakura was standing in front of a small woman who never looked up from the crystal ball she had in front of her.

"What have you done to Sakura?" Syaoran yelled at the woman.

"It will do your precious Cherry Blossom no good if you lose your temper," the woman said to Syaoran, mockingly.

Syaoran turned to Sakura instead. "Come on, Sakura. Fight her. I know you can do it."

Inside Sakura's mind there was a fierce battle between sheer power and will power. Eventually, Sakura won and she came back to reality. When she did, she lost her balance and started to fall. But Syaoran was there in a flash to catch her.  
When Sakura opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Syaoran's face so close to hers. She blushed a little.

"Are you ok?" Syaoran asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura said.

"Your powers are stronger than I thought," the woman said. "I have underestimated you. However, it will not happen again. Unlike that bird you fought, I have brains behind my strength. You will not beat me."

The woman suddenly grew to an incredible height, taller than all of the buildings. The people in the streets appeared to finally have noticed the woman.

"She must be a member of Clow Rood's army," Syaoran said.

"That explains a lot," Sakura said.

"We'll have to defeat her too," Syaoran said.

"Ok, I'll try," Sakura said. "Windy! Release and dispel!" The Windy card flew towards the giant woman and...went right through her!

"What?" Sakura and Syaoran both yelled at the same time.

The woman just laughed and moved closer to them.

"It's an illusion!" someone yelled from behind them. They turned around to see it was Tiana. "Find the source of its power...and hurry."

Sakura nodded to her friend and closed her eyes. She tried to sense where the woman's power was coming from. She could tell that there was a great source of power nearby, but she couldn't find where it was. She opened her eyes and saw the crystal ball right in front of her, glowing brighter than ever. She then noticed that the same mark that was on the bird was on the base that held the ball. _That's it!_ she thought.

"Sword Card!" She swung at the crystal ball and it shattered.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the woman screamed. The image of the woman disappeared while the spirit that was inside the crystal ball came and floated to the stone that Sakura held out in her hand. It started to glow like the last time.

"Great job, you guys," Tiana said.

"Wait a minute," Syaoran said. "How did you know that we were the ones sent to defeat the demons?"

"I knew the whole time. That's why I took you in," Tiana answered. "I possess a small amount of magic too. I've been trained ever since I was a little girl to be able to recognize the ancient Spirit. I was supposed to watch over her and help her along her journey. There is one of us in every city and town throughout Thera."

"So there's more of you?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes, there is," Tiana said.

"Was Misumi one too?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. Misumi and I are very close friends actually," Tiana said.

Sakura took a moment to think all this new information over.

"Well, you guys should get moving," Tiana said. "If you leave now you can reach the next town by dark."

"Now?" Syaoran said. "Hold on just a few minutes." He started to run off, but bumped into Sakura. he mumbled his apology then kept running. Sakura stared after him, confused.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Syaoran returned, they said goodbye to Tiana.

"Thank you for all your help," Sakura said. "You've been really nice." She went up to Tiana and gave her a hug. They started off again out of town. Once they were just outside of the borders they turned around and gave one last wave, then kept going.

**__**

To Be Continued...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


I can't believe I'm finally done!!!  
Sorry it took so long to complete, but  
I've already started Chapter 4.   
However, in order to make sure that  
I'm not writing this for nothing and   
people are actually reading it. I will not post   
chapter 4 until I get at least 20 e-mails  
letting me know what you think about  
my story(I accept flames). Sorry, but it has  
to be done. So get e-mailing!  
– Keroberous   


**__**

March 8, 2002


	4. Chapter 4

****

A Place Unknown

Chapter 4

Sakura walked through the front door of her house. She was surprised to see all of her friends there. "Happy birthday, Sakura!" they all yelled…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slowly Sakura opened her eyes to reveal the gray of dawn. Her memory slowly came back to her. _That's right_, she thought. _Today would've been my birthday._

It had been a long walk since they had left Tiana the day before. And the night's sleep had been very uncomfortable, as they hadn't been able to reach a town so they had slept on the ground.

The sleeping Syaoran began to stir. Sakura watched him as he got up.

"Hurry up, Syaoran. We have to get going."

The pair quickly gathered their gear and prepared to set off again. Just as Sakura had turned to start walking, Syaoran spoke up.

"Uh…Sakura?" he said.

"Yes, Syaoran."

"Um…Happy birthday." He was holding out a small box wrapped in colourful paper.

"Thanks, Syaoran," Sakura said, taking the gift. She was wondering what it could be.

When she opened the box, she gasped. Inside was a silver necklace. Attached to it, inlaid in gold, was the pale pink stone that was given to them by Misumi. She didn't know what to say.

"Syaoran, it…it's beautiful." Sakura threw her arms around his neck in a huge hug. This took Syaoran completely by surprise. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

"When did you have time to get this?" Sakura asked.

"I did it just before we left," he said.

"So that's where you went."

They then continued on their way to their next stop. Syaoran was still blushing from the hug he had gotten from Sakura.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura was pretty sure they were lost. Tiana had said that it would only take a couple of hours to reach the next town. Yet they had been travelling for 24 hours already and they hadn't seen any sign of civilization. She was sure they had followed Tiana's directions, but this forest was full of twists, turns, and forks so it was fairly easy to get turned around.

Eventually, Sakura voiced her worries.

"I know we're lost," Syaoran said, "but there's not much we can do about it. Besides these paths have to lead somewhere, so if we just follow the path, we'll eventually get out, even if it's not where we had originally intended."

And so the pair continued through the forest, stopping only briefly to decide which fork to take. Before long, the forest began to grow darker and there still wasn't any sign of a city.

"Syaoran, I don't think this plan is working to well."

But Syaoran just kept walking, looking straight ahead, as if his eyes were lasers and he was blasting a new path through the trees. Suddenly, Syaoran stopped dead. He was staring forward, straining to see through the thickening darkness.

"Sakura, look straight ahead. Tell me what you see."

Sakura stopped and peered into the darkness. Slowly, several dark shapes swam into focus. "It looks like…buildings!"

"See! I told you this path would lead us to a city eventually," Syaoran said as they started running towards the buildings.

It didn't take the two of them long to reach the buildings, but when they did, their excitement drained out of them faster than it had arrived. There was no doubt that they were in a city. The problem was, they had no idea how long it had been since another person had set foot here.

Sakura and Syaoran walked down the main street, looking at the deserted buildings on either side of them.

"They look like the ruins that we studied in history class," said Sakura, commenting on the ancient look of the buildings.

"I guess we can stay here for the night," Syaoran said. "What do you think? Sakura?" He turned around to see that Sakura had stopped in her tracks several feet behind him. She had a look of pure terror on her face. Syaoran ran back to her. "Sakura! Are you all right? What happened?"

"You want to stay here?" she stammered. "At night? I've read about places like this. They usually have ghosts and spirits and stuff.

"Come off it, Sakura. There's no such thing as ghosts. Besides, these buildings look like they'll be more comfortable than the hard ground."

Sakura figured he had a point and so, in the end, she agreed to stay there overnight. She still hadn't quite gotten over her childhood fear.

After a bit of exploration, they discovered a building with a couple of extremely old and moldy mattresses. Sakura lit a fire in the grate with the Fiery Card. Sakura hadn't realized how cold she was until she felt the warmth from the fire wash over her. 

The relaxing heat sent her into a sort of stupor. Soon, Sakura had fallen into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura woke with a start. She was drenched in a cold sweat. She strained to remember what she had been dreaming about. All that came to mind was a shadowy figure with piercing red eyes.

She looked around and saw that the fire had gone out. The lack of sunlight coming through the window told Sakura she hadn't been asleep for more than a few hours.

All of a sudden, Sakura was overcome with a blast of cold air. Something about this made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She was suddenly reminded about all the spirits that were said to haunt places like these. She needed something to get her mind off ghosts. 

"Syaoran, wake up." Sakura tried to wake up Syaoran so she could at least have someone to talk to. "Syaoran," she said again. But Syaoran didn't react. He wasn't even showing the slightest signs of movement.

Sakura reached over to shake him awake, but something happened. The moment her hand touched Syaoran's body, a shock, like a surge of electricity, traveled up her arm. 

Sakura cried out in pain. When the spots that had formed in front of her eyes faded away, she looked at Syaoran. He still hadn't moved.

Sakura suddenly noticed that all the colour seemed to have drained from Syaoran. She let out a horrified gasp. She glanced around the building for anything to help Syaoran, but she found nothing. However, she did notice that Syaoran was not he only thing with no colour. The building around her was also made up of the same shades of gray. She wasn't sure if this made her more or less worried.

She _was_ relieved though to see that _she_ still had some colour left. Sakura looked at her own hands. Her skin seemed to glow brightly against her dull surroundings.

Sakura couldn't shake the eerie feeling that this had happened before. Then it came to her. This was surprisingly similar to the effects of the Time Card. And unless she was mistaken, something similar to a time freeze had occurred here.

She decided suddenly to go take a look around outside. But when Sakura stepped through the door she caught her breath.

"Whoa," she whispered. The ruins that surrounded her seemed to have rebuilt themselves in a couple of hours. They were just as splendid as if they had been built yesterday. She was amazed. It was incredible.

Sakura stumbled around the ancient city in awe until she found herself standing outside what was easily the largest building around.

Sakura instinctively cast a nervous glance around her. Seeing no one, she gathered her resolve and stepped over the threshold. 

She found herself in a stone passageway that led into the depths of the dark building. By the light of the moon that managed to creep in through the entranceway, Sakura could tell that the walls were covered in symbols of some sort.

She made her way along the darkening passage. Eventually, she had to feel along the walls to tell where she was going. Suddenly the wall disappeared and Sakura's hand was grasping only air. For a second, she panicked. Then she realized she must be in a room, but as it was so dark, she didn't know for sure. After a moment's hesitation, Sakura pulled out a card.

"Light Card!" she whispered.

The light reached right into the darkest corners of the room, which was now revealed to be huge. It looked even too big to be contained in this building. Sakura had been right about the symbols on the walls too. Except even her vivid imagination couldn't have predicted this. There didn't seem to be an inch of stone that wasn't covered in the ancient paint.

All of a sudden, Sakura saw something gleaming out of the corner of her eye. On the other side of the vast room was an elaborately carved pedestal, on top of which lay the source of the gleam, although she couldn't make it out exactly.

Sakura didn't think it could hurt to check it out. She started to walk across the room. About halfway across she heard a faint whooshing sound. Turning, she saw three large spears speeding through the air towards her.

"Shield Card!" she yelled, her voice bouncing off the walls. All three spears hit the Shield and fell harmlessly to the ground. She considered going straight back to the cottage where she and Syaoran had slept.

Suddenly Sakura was reminded of the state that Syaoran was in and why she was here in the first place. And so, hoping that whatever lay on the pedestal might help Syaoran, she continued onward.

On top of the pedestal lay a golden cherry blossom encrusted with rubies. Sakura thought it was beautiful but she couldn't see how it might help Syaoran, so she picked it up to examine it further.

She was so involved in the piece of jewelry that she didn't notice that something was winding itself around her waist until it was too late. 

All of a sudden Sakura was lifted into the air. She dropped the golden flower and it fell to the floor with a clatter. She looked down at her waist. Chains that seemed to move by themselves had tightened painfully around her waist. 

Suddenly, four more living chains shot out of the walls and wrapped themselves around Sakura's arms and legs. She wasn't able to move an inch.

Everything went dead quiet, until Sakura could make out vibrations through the chains. She was soon able to make out a grunting sound coming through the tunnel she had entered through. She couldn't see what it was, but she had a bad feeling it was big. It also seemed to emit a bright light, which poured out of the tunnel.

Sakura tried to shield her eyes, but she remembered she was still bound by the chains. Instead she squinted to try and soothe her eyes. Then she realized that the light wasn't coming from the tunnel itself, but _above_ it. She then noticed the only symbol in the room that she recognized. Centred perfectly above the entranceway was the symbol of Clow Rood!

Sakura's mouth dropped open in surprise. All the pieces finally fell into place. And she knew the perfect card to help her. She tried to summon the Arrow Card, but it was useless while she was still tied up. And the chains showed no signs of loosening their grip. All hope seemed lost. The only thing she could think of was calling the card without her wand, but she wasn't sure if it was even possible. But it was her only idea, so she had to give it a shot.

She closed her eyes tightly and focused all of her power on this particular task. When she opened her eyes, Sakura saw that she too was glowing. Suddenly a rectangular shape emerged from her chest and hovered in front of her.

"Oh my god!" she gasped. "I actually did it!" She wasted no time in completing her task. "Go, Arrow Card!"

The card glowed bright and an Arrow shot out, hitting its target perfectly. Whatever it was that was in the tunnel disappeared and the chains that were holding her loosened their grip. Sakura fell painfully to the floor. It took her a few minutes to stand up again because what she had just accomplished had drained her of most of her energy.

When Sakura did manage to get up she picked up the ruby cherry blossom. She looked at it quickly and pocketed it. Then she glanced upwards. The whole ceiling had disappeared. It seemed that the buildings had gone back to being ruins. She also saw a pale gray fog hovering a few feet off the ground. Realizing what it was Sakura reached under her shirt and pulled out the necklace that contained the Spirit Gem that Syaoran had given her.

Instantly, the demon's spirit flew into the gem. She placed the necklace back under her shirt and made her way back to Syaoran. Sakura moved slowly because she was still weak.

When she got back, she knelt down beside Syaoran and tried to shake him awake. But she saw that his colour still hadn't returned. She bent over him, crying, because she had no idea how to get him back. However, the answer came by itself.

As she was crying over Syaoran, her necklace fell out of her shirt and knocked against Syaoran's side. As soon as it touched the gem flashed a bright pink than went back to its original colour. When she looked again, Syaoran was back to normal and he was struggling to sit up.

"Sakura?" he mumbled. "What happened?"

So she launched into the entire series of events. However, she didn't know why, but, she left out the part about her being able to call the card without her staff.

By the time her story ended, the first light of dawn began to shine in the window.

"Well, now that we're up, we might as well get going," said Syaoran.

They gathered their things and started to leave the ruins. When they were almost out of sight, Sakura remembered the ruby cherry blossom that was still in her pocket. She drew it out and showed it to Syaoran. After a brief examination, he reached over and tied it into her hair. 

"You know Sakura, you're going to have quite the jewelry collection at this rate when we get home," said Syaoran.

__

If we get home, Sakura added to herself.

****

To Be Continued…

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


It's finally done!!!!!!  
What did you guys think?  
I'm really sorry it took so long to finish.  
I'm not sure when Ch. 5 will be out  
because I'm kinda out of ideas right now.  
If you've got any suggestions, e-mail me.  
  
– Kero 

  
**_February 9, 2003_**


	5. Chapter 5

****

A Place Unknown

Chapter 5

Sakura and Syaoran walked quickly through the dense forest. Sakura wasn't even sure if it was still day as the trees grew so close together that they blocked out the sun.

Sakura shivered. The dark forest was cold. She reached into her bag and pulled out a blanket Misumi gave her and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Syaoran noticed this and gave Sakura a concerned look, but he said nothing. When he faced forward again, Syaoran noticed a small area of light up ahead. It appeared that the forest was finally coming to an end!

As soon as they stepped out into the sunlight, they both blinked and had to shield their eyes. After a few days in the dim forest, such bright light hurt their eyes.

When Sakura was finally able to open her eyes, she had to blink some more. She wondered if that sudden burst of sunlight had damaged her eyes. But she looked over and could tell that Syaoran saw the same thing.

Before them stood the strangest sight Sakura had ever laid eyes upon. A huge city, at least a hundred kilometres across, was sitting directly in their path. But the size wasn't the only thing that was amazing. Every single building was painted in neon pinks, blues, greens, and yellows. Most of the light that was shining on the pair seemed to be coming from the city itself.

Sakura turned her back on the city to give her eyes a rest. Syaoran did the same.

"I think I'm going to have spots in front of my eyes for the rest of my life," Syaoran said, rubbing his eyes.

"So, what do we do now?" Sakura asked.

"We might as well check it out," he replied. "Besides, it would take forever to go around.

So the two shielded their eyes and turned again to face the city. They made their way towards the city, occasionally glancing up very quickly to make sure they stayed on the right track.

Eventually they reached the city. There were people everywhere going about their normal business. From off to one side a young man walked up to them and offered them what looked like an ordinary pair of sunglasses. Sakura and Syaoran didn't need to be offered twice. They took the sunglasses graciously. They put them on and found that they blocked the light from the buildings almost perfectly.

They continued to walk through the city, looking at all the different shops that lined the streets.

"Now what?" Sakura started to say before they heard a familiar voice calling them.

"Sakura! Syaoran!" The pair turned to see Tiana running up to them.

"Tiana," Sakura said, "What are you doing here?"

Tiana held up her hand to indicate she had to catch her breath. Sakura and Syaoran waited until she could speak again. 

"When you guys left, I sent a message ahead to my partner in the next city letting her know you were on your way. Well, when you never arrived, she let me know and I came here thinking you might have taken a wrong turn."

"But why did you have to come all the way out here yourself," Syaoran asked. "You told us that there was someone in every city on the look out for Sakura."

Tiana paused for a moment before answering. "Well…uh…you saw how big the city is. I needed to make sure you guys found him."

"Oh, ok then," Sakura said brightly. Syaoran said nothing; he wore an expression that said he wasn't quite convinced.

"Well, here," Tiana said. She took out a sheet of paper that turned out to be a map. "This should help you find your way," she said. With that, she turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"That was nice of her to help us out," Sakura said cheerfully.

Syaoran gave her one of his 'looks'. "Didn't you sense anything just then?" he asked her.

Sakura gave him a puzzled look. "No, why?"

Syaoran just shook his head. "Forget it," he said. "I must've been imagining things." He didn't know what, but something was bothering him.

Sakura, however, didn't let Syaoran get to her. "Come on Syaoran," she said. "Let's go find this person." With that, she started weaving in and out of the crowd, following the map. Syaoran followed her reluctantly.

***

It took them a long time to get where they were going. And it never seemed to get dark, probably because of the glowing buildings. They did learn a bit about the city during their journey though. Like the city's name, for instance, which was so complicated to say that they had forgotten it less than five minutes later, but it meant "Glowing City" in some strange language. They also found out that all the buildings were made of a special kind of stone called luminite that was able to give off its own light.

After they had been walking for hours, Syaoran had to ask Sakura to stop because his feet felt like they were going to fall off.

But before he could say anything, Sakura let out a small scream of excitement.

"Sakura? What's the matter?" he asked, but Sakura seemed unable to string two words together so she just pointed, positively brimming with excitement.

When Syaoran looked, he saw right away what had gotten her so excited. Standing a little ways in front of them, right where the map had led to, was Yukito.

Sakura couldn't hold it in any longer. She ran over to him with Syaoran trailing behind.

"Yuki!" Sakura yelled and threw herself around him in a big hug. Syaoran stopped and watched a little ways away.

"I missed you so much," Sakura said.

Yukito looked down at the girl hugging him with polite confusion. "I think you have me confused with someone else."

Sakura looked up at him. All she could come up with was, "Huh?"

"I mean my name's not Yuki. I'm Yanic. But I know who you are of course," he said. "I could sense you coming. But where's…ah."

Yanic looked up and saw Syaoran standing off to the side. He smiled and waved to him. Syaoran, however, just glared.

"A bit antisocial, isn't he?" Yanic said.

"Don't mind him," Sakura said. "That's Syaoran for you. So tell me…"

Sakura took Yanic by the arm and the pair started to walk away. Sakura didn't even look back at Syaoran once. But Syaoran didn't mind; it gave him time to think because something was bothering him.

__

How did he know I was the one with Sakura? He thought. _It's not like Sakura where they can sense the Spirit. Something's wrong here._

Sakura and Yanic were almost out of site, so despite what his instincts told him he followed, although at a distance.

***

It took them about an hour to get to where they were going, which Syaoran assumed was Yanic's house. Yanic let Sakura in and then stood back and held the door open for Syaoran, who hesitated for a moment.

Yanic was giving him the same innocent smile he knew so well on Yukito, but he knew this wasn't Yuki. Nevertheless, he needed a place to stay so he grudgingly entered the house. Besides, this way he'd be able to keep an eye on Sakura. Syaoran had a feeling something was wrong with her.

He was surprised to see how well kept Yanic's house was. The only other male he knew whose house was so tidy was the real Yukito's. He didn't let this get his guard down, though.

Syaoran was still standing in the doorway while Sakura was sitting on the couch talking animatedly with Yanic. He was furious at how close they were sitting and when Yanic leaned in as if to hear better, Syaoran knew he'd had enough. He was sure his face was going red with anger.

"Where's your bathroom?" Syaoran asked Yanic while trying to hold his face in a neutral expression, which was proving difficult.

"Down the hall; second door on your right," Yanic replied. He gave Syaoran a look that was as un-Yukito-like as possible, almost as if to say he knew what he was doing to Syaoran. Sakura didn't notice this however.

Syaoran found the bathroom with little trouble. He shut the door and leaned against the back, out of breath. He went and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was right, his face had been going red. The tips of his ears were burning. He turned on the tap and splashed water on his face and then took a few deep breaths to calm down.

On the walk to Yanic's house, Syaoran had been thinking that this might all be just a coincidence. He had remembered what Misumi had said about Theran-twins and wondered if that might account for Yanic's uncanny resemblance to Yukito. But after the look he had just received from Yanic, he knew something more was going on. Syaoran had sensed something evil in that stare, but he didn't know what it meant. What he did know was that he had to talk to Sakura.

***

The night was late and the house quiet. Syaoran quietly opened his bedroom door. He peeked his head out into the hallway. Everything was still.

Syaoran made his way softly down the hall towards the door behind which Sakura was sleeping. As he reached it, he stopped and looked both ways down the hall. It felt like he was being watched, but he saw no one. He stood still for a minute to make sure, then he cracked open the door to Sakura's room and slipped in silently, closing the door behind him.

He turned to see Sakura fast asleep. Syaoran thought she looked like an angel, so innocent and peaceful. He hated to have to wake her, but he didn't want to risk a conversation in front of Yanic.

Syaoran knelt down near where Sakura's head lay. He reached out and gently shook her. "Sakura," he whispered.

Sakura mumbled something inaudible before opening her eyes. When she saw Syaoran, she jumped up in fright.

"Shhh!" Syaoran whispered, motioning with his hands and looking around nervously. "It's just me."

"God, Syaoran," Sakura said, clutching her breast. "Don't do that. You just about gave me a heart attack."

"I'm really sorry, Sakura, but we need to talk," he said.

"Right now?" Sakura asked. "Can't it wait 'til morning?" she asked, laying back down.

"Well, technically it is morning," Syaoran said.

"Fine! Be that way, smart-aleck." Sakura was becoming annoyed. "What was so important that it couldn't wait until I got up on my own?"

"I want to talk to you about Yanic," he said.

"Oh?" Sakura's eyes suddenly brightened. "He's wonderful, isn't he? He's so smart. He knows tons about lots of stuff."

"Doesn't anything bother you about him?"

"Of course not. Why should it?"

Syaoran just stared at Sakura for a minute. He could tell she honestly didn't notice anything wrong. "I don't know what it is but there's something weird about him. Just be careful."

"Oh, come off it, Syaoran," Sakura said. "You can't be serious? Yanic is the most wonderful guy I've met. He's kind. He's sensitive. He's generous. He's –"

"– not Yuki." Syaoran finished.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

"Don't give me that, Sakura," he said. "I know about your crush on Yuki and I've been watching you with Yanic. You can't tell me you haven't noticed how much Yanic looks like Yuki."

"I admit there are similarities…"

"Similarities!" Syaoran said, trying to yell and whisper at the same time. "Sakura, if I didn't know any better I'd say they were the same person."

"Fine! They look the same," Sakura said. "What's the point of this?"

"There's something really strange going on here and you can't let your silly crush on Yuki get in the way of our mission. You do remember what that is I hope."

"Of course I do. I'm not stupid," Sakura said. "And I'm not going to debate right now whether or not I have a crush on Yuki, but if I did, it wouldn't be in my way."

"Fine then. Don't admit it. Just be aware and remember what I said," Syaoran told her.

"Whatever. Now if you'd excuse me, I'd like to get back to sleep." With that, Sakura lied back down with her back to Syaoran.

Defeated, Syaoran got up to leave. As he was closing the door to his own room, the door to the room down the hall shut as well.

***

Syaoran was walking down a street that was unfamiliar to him. Perhaps it was this that caused him to be extra alert. However, the streets appeared to be empty which unnerved him considering how crowded they were the day before.

He followed the streets for what seemed like hours, not really sure what path he was taking. Eventually, though, he found himself down an alleyway facing a wall with no where else to go. 

He wasn't quite sure how he ended up here, but he examined the wall and found a small red mark. It was the Clow seal. Just like on Clow Rood's army. 

__

But what is it doing here? Syaoran thought. The mark was hard to notice. It was on the brick closest to the ground right in the corner. 

Just as he bent down to get a closer look at it, Syaoran opened his eyes. He was lying in his bed back in Yanic's house. It had been a dream.

***

The morning found Syaoran sitting outside Yanic's house watching the crowd go by. He couldn't stand being inside with Sakura anymore. He had had enough of watching her drool over Yanic and having Yanic sop it up like a puppy starving for love.

Syaoran was just letting his eyes wander over the scenery when he found himself staring at a clock tower that stood above all the other buildings. It was then that he got a flashback of the dream he had during the night.

He saw himself walking down an empty street. Looking up, he saw the same clock tower he was looking at now in front of him. Syaoran realized that the dream he had had wasn't a normal dream.

__

I thought it was Sakura who got the prophetic dreams, Syaoran thought. _I better see what this is about._

He got up and started to make his way through the streets. The journey was much harder now than it had been in his dreams due to the crowd of people going about they're daily business. However, Syaoran found that he knew exactly where to go, even though he couldn't see that well.

Eventually he found himself standing in the entrance of an alley that led nowhere. Syaoran could tell this was the same place he had seen in his dream. It was exactly the same, right down to the last pebble and scrap of garbage. 

He went down to the end of the alley until he was standing right in front of the wall with nowhere to go. He bent down to look in the corner for the red mark he knew he'd find. However, it wasn't there.

"Huh?" he said to himself. "I'm sure this is where it was…" As he said this, he reached down and brushed the brick where he had seen the red mark in his dream. When he did, the brick started to glow and vibrate. Suddenly, all the other bricks in the wall started to imitate the first. Then, they all moved to the side as if the two walls on either side were sucking them in.

Syaoran found himself standing on the edge of an archway into what looked like a deserted home. He slowly entered the building.

"Hello!" he called. There was no answer from the dark house. He stood still for a minute, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. 

Syaoran started to move slowly through the dark and dust. It seemed to be unoccupied, but Syaoran's instincts told him otherwise. He had a feeling somebody was here so he moved slowly and quietly, so as not to surprise them.

He hadn't gone far when there was a crash from the floor above him. Intrigued, Syaoran began to look for a way up. He soon found a staircase and he took the steps two at a time.

When he reached the second floor landing, he looked around. It was basically a large circular room with many doors all around the perimeter. He wasn't sure exactly where the noise had come from. So Syaoran stood very still and just listened.

After a few minutes, he thought he could hear muffled voices coming from the door across from him. Before he opened the door, he stopped and listened again. It sounded like people yelling from far away. He slowly eased open the door and what he saw took his breath away.

"Oh my God!" Syaoran said. In the middle of the floor lay two people who had been bound and gagged. The scary part was that Syaoran recognized one of them.

"Tiana!" he said, running over to her and taking the gag out of her mouth. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"I'm fine now," Tiana said, once Syaoran had removed her gag. She continued to speak while he worked on breaking her bonds. "You don't know how glad I am to see you. How did you find us anyway?"

"I'm not really sure," he said. "I just had a dream of me coming here and so I knew where to go." By this time, Syaoran had gotten Tiana loose. "So who's this?" he said, indicating the other guy who had been tied up.

"Oh, this is Takeda," Tiana said, beginning to untie him. "He's supposed to be the one helping you and Sakura in this city."

"Wait a minute," Syaoran said. "I thought that was Yanic."

"No, unfortunately not," Takeda said, once he could speak. "The person you know as Yanic isn't who you think he is. In fact, he's not even a person."

"Oh no…" Syaoran said. He had a feeling he knew where this was going and he didn't like it.

"Yeah, he's a part of Clow Rood's army," Tiana said.

All of a sudden, Syaoran received a shock of realization. "Sakura's alone with him right now! We've got to do something!"

"Well, let's get going!" Takeda said.

"Lead the way, Syaoran," Tiana encouraged.

***

"Oh, Yanic this is so wonderful," Sakura said.

She was sitting down at the table in Yanic's dining room. Her host was busying himself in the kitchen.

"It's not a problem at all, Sakura," he said. "Besides this is part of my duty to help protect you."

"You're such a sweetheart," she said.

"Don't mention it," he said to himself.

He piled the food onto two plates and carried them into the dining room. He set one plate in front of Sakura and the other by his own empty seat. He then poured them each a glass of wine and took his seat.

"Cheers," Yanic said. They raised their glasses to each other and took a drink. "Dig in," he told her.

"This smells _so_ good," Sakura said. She picked up her fork and began to eat. Yanic watched her very closely.

Just before Sakura's first forkful reached her mouth, Syaoran, Tiana, and Takeda burst into Yanic's house.

"Sakura! Stop!" Syaoran yelled.

Sakura looked shocked. "Syaoran? What's the matter? And what's Tiana doing here?"

"Sakura, that's not who you think it is," Tiana said. "This is Takeda, he's the one who's supposed to be protecting you, that's a member of Clow Rood's army."

"And I bet he did something to that food," Takeda said. Sakura looked at horror at the forkful of food. 

The sudden arrival had shocked Yanic but he suddenly gained his composure. "I won't let you stop me," Yanic told the three of them. He took a small vial out of his pocket, took off the top, and thrust the needle into Sakura's chest.

Syaoran stared at shock at the scene that seemed to be going in slow motion before him. All he could hear was Tiana's screaming.

When Yanic made the thrusting move his shirt came up and revealed the red mark that was on his waist line.

He saw Sakura's eyes roll up into her head. He saw her slowly slide out of her seat. He heard, even with Tiana's screams, the dull thud as her body hit the floor.

Yanic turned to the three of them and smiled.

Suddenly, the speed seemed to go back to normal. Syaoran let out a scream of anger. He took out his sword and Yanic looked at it with fear.

Syaoran ran at him and swung the sword right where he knew the mark was. 

Yanic didn't even have time to scream. His expression of shock dissolved away into mist and his spirit drifted into the gem that hung around the neck of the unconscious Sakura.

Right away Syaoran dropped his sword and ran to Sakura. He lifted her into his lap. He looked up and saw Takeda comforting Tiana who was crying into her hands.

Syaoran lifted Sakura's head and pressed it too his chest as the tears began to fall.

**__**

To Be Continued…

***

Phew…That chapter took forever…Almost a year. The longest chapter yet, although after waiting so long it should be right? ^_^' Anyway, I thought this was my best chapter yet. What do you guys think? Let me know. I really hope the next chapter doesn't take nearly as long. Oh, and sorry 'bout the cliffhanger. 

- Kero


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